HINGHAM LETTER: Upsetting to see dog locked in hot car

Friday

Jun 20, 2014 at 10:11 AMJun 20, 2014 at 1:48 PM

On Sunday, the 15th of June, I was about to get in my car after shopping at Rite-Aid on Lincoln Street, Route 3-A, when I heard a dog's crying. The dog must have seen me only a few vehicles away. I approached the sedan from which I could hear the pet's crying.

Georg Deyab

On Sunday, the 15th of June, I was about to get in my car after shopping at Rite-Aid on Lincoln Street, Route 3-A, when I heard a dog’s crying. The dog must have seen me only a few vehicles away. I approached the sedan from which I could hear the pet’s crying. There was a dog in the back seat of a Honda Crosstour. The windows were completely closed. If there was a sunroof, it was not open at all. I tried to open the door, but it was locked, and hot to the touch. I could not believe what I was seeing, a dog who was desperately trying to get out of the heated car, and he or she was, ironically enough, pressed up against a child’s safety seat.

I looked around at the two stores and decided that the owner, who was obviously more worried about the security of her Vera Bradley bag than about the safety of the family pet, was probably in the Starbucks. I walked in, surveyed the crowd, and saw a woman who was carrying her daughter while she waited for her beverage. I asked her, “Do you drive a black Honda Crosstour?” She said yes. I said to her, “You can’t keep a dog in a car with the windows closed. It’s too hot!” She robotically replied, “thank you for your concern.” I could tell she was just humoring me, in case I am some kind of crazy. Therefore, in case she still does not understand the gravity, I said to her, “You wouldn’t leave your daughter in a hot, locked car with the windows closed. Your dog is wearing a fur coat.” Again, she replied, “Thank you for your concern.” She then continued to wait for her drink. Six minutes later, she stepped out of the Starbucks and casually walked to her car. Apparently, Starbucks was extra busy on account of Father’s Day, and the line quite long.

How some people can be so thoughtless is both amazing and sickening at the same time.